City of London Police head Ian Dyson says Brexit could mean criminals convicted in Europe might be able to roam free here. (Image: City of London Police)

So what exactly will happen if and when Brexit kicks in?

Will we be bulk buying tins of baked beans from Poundland as imports collapse, will gangs of remainers roam the streets seeking revenge? Or will in fact we all be much better off and find ourselves back in the good old days of Great Blighty?

Well according to the head of City of London police, it could be so bad that murder suspects could remain at large because police could lose access to key European intelligence they use to help catch criminals.

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With the clock ticking down towards the UK’s departure from the EU on March 29, Commissioner Ian Dyson said police forces across the UK could lose access to "intelligence and arrest warrants to bring an offender to justice".

He added a no-deal Brexit might also create problems if police are not given full details about European arrest warrants for criminals at large.

No power to arrest European Citizens?

He added: "If somebody is a European citizen and is wanted for a serious crime like murder, then at the moment we stop that person in London . We would be able to see. If there is not that flow of information, we may stop that person but we may not know they are wanted. But even if if we did know ... we would not have necessarily the powers to make the arrest and that person might remain at large."

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This is because the UK could lose out on key crime-busting intelligence from the EU law enforcement network Europol which shares intelligence with forces in member states.

The Home Office and Uk’s National Crime Agency are lobbying about their concerns over the loss of intelligence.

Commissioner Dyson said: "We are at the forefront of feeding things in because of the potential impact it has on us for tackling economic crime."

European intelligence interrupted?

He said the force is also working with City businesses and the Corporation to tackle the risks of counter terrorism and cyber crime. The force is the national lead on fraud and in November alone received more than 31,000 reports of fraud, including online shopping and boiler room scams.

He explained: "The intelligence that flows between European countries could be interrupted if we get no deal. These are key tools for us, particularly the flow of criminality around Europe."

He added, a no deal Brexit might also present challenges if police got requests about European arrest warrants as they might not have all the intelligence

More about east London

He made his comments in a Brexit update to the City of London Corporation’s economic crime board of the police committee on Monday (January 21).

Detective Superintendent, Perry Stokes, who heads City of London police's fraud operations, said police had put contingency measures into place if "the worst happens" and would also use intelligence from the international crime agency Interpol.

However he said that "Europol works for us. It is fast and it is live."

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